After the emotion, the debates? Joe Biden arrived in the Texas town of Uvalde on Sunday, five days after the elementary school shooting, to bring his empathy to loved ones bereaved by the shooting that shocked America and reignited the firearms debate.
“You can’t make dramas illegal, I know that. But we can make America safer, « said the President of the United States on Saturday, regretting that » in so many places, so many innocent people have died.
Nineteen children and two teachers died on Tuesday in the Robb school in Uvalde under the bullets of Salvador Ramos, barely 18, in one of the worst shootings in recent years in the country.
“Losing a child is like having a part of your soul ripped out of you”
The 79-year-old Democrat, who himself lost two of his children — his still-baby daughter in a car accident and an adult son to cancer — spoke of his own suffering shortly after the killings. “Losing a child is like having a part of your soul ripped out of you,” he said on Tuesday. “Nothing is ever the same again. »
In Uvalde, the Biden couple will first go to the memorial erected for the victims in front of the primary school, before participating in a mass at midday. In the afternoon, they will meet the families of victims and survivors of the massacre, then members of the rescue teams.
Known for his empathy, Joe Biden will undoubtedly be able to find the words in the face of the suffering of loved ones.
Fight the gun lobby?
But the head of state can hardly promise action to those who demand stricter control of firearms.
Even if elected Americans showed cautious optimism on Sunday on the adoption of stricter laws on the regulation of weapons, after the shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, which shocked the country.
Like every massacre before it, Tuesday’s shooting, in which 19 children and two female teachers died, reignited calls for political action on guns. “I know, after each of these killings, there are discussions in Washington, and they never come to fruition. But, this time, there are more Republicans ready to discuss, « said ABC Democratic Senator Chris Murphy, who had « begged » his colleagues on Tuesday to act.
Similar feelings for his Democratic colleague Dick Durbin, who spoke on CNN of « a different state of mind » among the elected officials, while admitting « not being able to be sure » that they would manage to get along.
What tracks could certain elected officials agree on?
Because we will have to find compromises. The elected representatives of the narrow Democratic parliamentary majority must convince a few Republicans to bring together the necessary qualified majority. It is a question of seeing if the Republicans will « show political courage », indicated Dick Durbin.
Among the avenues mentioned is a generalization of the examination of the psychiatric and judicial histories of arms buyers. Improving this examination is a solution « on which we could agree », affirmed a Republican elected representative from Texas in the House of Representatives, Dan Crenshaw on CNN, while seeming skeptical about its usefulness.
Another option cited is a law allowing the temporary removal of weapons from a person whose behavior has been reported as dangerous. The elected officials are also discussing the possibility of raising the age to buy a weapon. The Uvalde shooter was barely 18, like many perpetrators of massacres. “Raise the age necessary to buy a weapon to 21 seems obvious,” said another Republican elected to the House of Representatives Adam Kinzinger on ABC, in favor of a stricter framework.
Eyes are also turning to Florida, which had tightened its restrictions on weapons after a massacre at a high school in Parkland in 2018. The state had also “invested more in mental health and school safety”, praised Chris Murphy, putting forward ideas more popular in the conservative camp.
A ban on assault rifles, the type of weapon used in Uvalde, seems more difficult to impose. “We have to be realistic about what we can do,” said Dick Durbin, recalling that more than 20 million AR-15 rifles were already in circulation in the United States.